starting meetings on time

Bruce Turkel is a nationally recognized expert on branding. He’s also a prolific blogger, one that I follow. Bruce recently wrote about his serendipitous early arrival to the airport in a post titled “Early To Bed. Early To Rise.” It’s a worthy read.

I commented on his post, focusing my message on the importance of being on time. It’s what I call Making Time To Be On Time. Here’s the way I see it.

Why Being On Time Is Important

Being on time – in any form and for any purpose – is important in three specific ways:

Leadership – Being on time demonstrates leadership. It communicates that we command our schedule and we fulfill our obligations. Others follow those who lead, resulting in more people showing up on time.

Respect – Being on time respects other peoples’ time. Forcing others to wait for us is impolite regardless of the reason. They’ve made time for us and we are professionally obligated to make good use of that time.

Productivity – Being on time is productive. As obvious as this seems, many miss the point. Gathering people for a meeting consumes two valuable and limited resources – money and time. When meetings start late and, as a result, run long, time is lost, productivity is lost and money is wasted. The aggregated effects of that loss can be staggering.